Presidential election begins in Nicaragua with Ortega seeking 4th consecutive term
People in Nicaragua are heading to polling stations as President Daniel Ortega seeks a fourth consecutive term to extend his grip on power.
Polls opened at 7:00 a.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Sunday in the capital Managua, with some people proudly showing off their ink-stained thumbs after casting their ballots. Voting ends at 6:00 p.m.
About 4.5 million Nicaraguans are eligible to vote across the Central American country.
The 75-year Ortega, a former leftist guerrilla leader who deposed dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, is almost certain to win the election for the fourth straight term to prolong his status as the Americas' longest-serving leader, alongside his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
He led the Sandinista guerrilla movement before becoming president in 1985 for a five-year term that ended with an electoral defeat in 1990. He returned to presidency in 2007.
Nicaragua's police have imprisoned nearly 40 leading opposition figures since May, including seven presidential candidates, prominent business leaders, journalists and even some of his former rebel allies.
The only opposition on the ballot comes from five less-known candidates of small allied parties.
Some 92 seats in the unicameral Congress, controlled by Ortega's allies, are also up for grab.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month slammed the election as "sham" in Nicaragua, claiming that Ortega and Murillo seek an "authoritarian dynasty."
The United States on Sunday imposed unilateral coercive measures on Nicaragua and 28 other countries and territories around the world, targeting their economies.
Ortega said his country must fight imperialists and that sanctions will not defeat him.
Gross domestic product shrank nearly 9% from 2018 to 2020, compared to robust average growth of almost 4% since 2000.
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